Heat Cutting Device For Embroidery Sewing Machine

ABSTRACT

Distal end section of a heat cutter is movable among a processing position where the heating distal end section is kept pressed against a workpiece, a standby position located away from the workpiece, and a refracted position located farther away from the workpiece than the standby position. Pressing member is movable between an operating position where the pressing member presses down the workpiece and a non-operating position where the pressing member does not press down the workpiece. The distal end section is moved between the standby position and the retracted position in interlocked relation to the movement of the pressing member, and, while the pressing member is in the operating position, the distal end section is moved between the standby position and the processing position. Thus, appropriate processing can be performed even at start and end points of the processing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on, and claims priority to, JP PA 2011-098581 filed on 26 Apr. 2011. The disclosure of the priority application, in its entirety, including the drawings, claims, and the specification thereof, is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Disclosed herein is a heat cutting device for an embroidery sewing machine which performs thermal or heat processing, such as thermal or heat cutting, marking or the like, on a fabric or other type of workpiece held on an embroidery frame. More particularly, a technique for pressing down the workpiece in a stabilized manner is disclosed.

There have heretofore been known embroidery sewing machines provided with a heat cutting device capable of performing heat processing, such as heat cutting, marking or the like, on a fabric or other type of workpiece held on an embroidery frame controlled to horizontally move in front-rear and left-right directions on the basis of predetermined movement data. The conventionally-known heat cutting device is movable between a processing position where a heating distal end position is kept pressed against the workpiece to process the workpiece and a refracted position located away from the workpiece. Namely, when the workpiece is to be processed by the heat cutting device, the heat cutting device is moved from the retracted position to the processing position so that the heating distal end section heated to a predetermined temperature is placed in pressing contact against the workpiece, and then, with the distal end section held pressed against the workpiece, the embroidery frame is moved so that user-desired processing, such as heat cutting, marking or the like, is performed on the workpiece.

The workpiece held on the embroidery frame may have an uneven, concave-convex surface because of its material, nature, etc. of the workpiece, or an uneven, concave-convex surface may sometimes be produced on the workpiece by the workpiece being pulled by sewing threads during sewing of an embroidery or the like. Further, among examples of a method for setting the workpiece on the embroidery frame is one in accordance with which the workpiece is attached via an adhesive tape or a removable adhesive agent to a holding sheet that is held stretched taut on the embroidery frame. In this case, however, the workpiece may sometimes undesirably partly lift up from the holding sheet. In the case where the workpiece has an uneven, concave-convex surface or is lifting up partly from the holding sheet, it has been customary for the conventionally-known heat cutting device to perform the desired processing with a portion of the workpiece around the heating distal end section left unconstrained, and thus, the processing cannot be performed appropriately because, for example, the cutting might become incomplete or part the marking might be cut off.

European Patent Publication No. EP1983083 (hereinafter referred to as “the relevant patent literature”) discloses a heat cutting device provided with a pressing member for pressing down a workpiece during processing in order to avoid the above-mentioned inconvenience. In the heat cutting device disclosed in the relevant patent literature, the pressing member in the form of a spacer is provided on the heating distal end section, and the spacer has an opening for insertion therethrough of the heating distal end section. A length of a portion of the heating distal end section that projects beyond the lower surface of the spacer is adjustable in accordance with a thickness of the workpiece and a type of the processing to be performed. Once the spacer and the heating distal end section is adjusted into relative positional relationship, the relative positional relationship is fixed such that the spacer and the heating distal end section do not move relative to each other. When desired processing is to be performed on the workpiece by the heating distal end section being pressed against the workpiece, the workpiece is pressed down by the heating distal end section projecting from the spacer into the workpiece pressed by the spacer. Because the spacer is provided for pressing the workpiece and the length of the portion of the heating distal end section projecting beyond the lower surface of the spacer is adjustable in accordance with the thickness of the workpiece and the type of the processing to be performed as noted above, the heat cutting device disclosed in the relevant patent literature can perform desired processing, such as heat cutting, marking or the like, in a stabilized manner even where the workpiece has an uneven, concave-convex surface or is lifting up partly from the holding sheet.

Further, in the heat cutting device disclosed in the relevant patent literature, where the spacer (pressing member) is provided on the heating distal end section, the spacer is movable together with the heating distal end section between the processing position and the retracted position. Further, because the heating distal end section partly projects out of the opening, the heating distal end section would abut against the workpiece before the workpiece is pressed down by the spacer during movement toward the processing position, if the workpiece has an uneven, concave-convex surface or is lifting up partly from the holding sheet. Further, during movement toward the retracted position, the workpiece would lift up as the spacer moves away from the workpiece, and thus, the heating distal end section would be delayed in moving away from the workpiece. As a consequence, a time length over which the heating distal end section and the workpiece contact each other would become relatively long, so that the user-desired processing cannot be performed appropriately because, for example, the workpiece may undesirably be cut although the user desired to perform marking on the workpiece.

Further, when processing by the heat cutting device is to be performed intermittently, the spacer has to repeat movement between the processing and the retracted position together with the heating distal end section, during which the aforementioned inconvenience would be encountered at the start and end points of each of the intermittent processing portions. Furthermore, because the workpiece is not pressed down by the spacer while the heating distal end section is in the retracted position, portions of the workpiece to be processed intermittently may be undesirably deviated in position if the workpiece has an uneven, concave-convex surface or is lifting up partly from the holding sheet.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing prior art problems, it may be desirable to provide an improved heat cutting device for an embroidery sewing machine which, when processing such as heat cutting, marking or the like is to be performed on a workpiece such as a fabric held on an embroidery frame of the machine, can keep the work piece pressed down in a stabilized manner and thereby appropriately perform the processing.

Disclosed herein is an improved heat cutting device for an embroidery sewing machine that performs desired processing on a workpiece, held on an embroidery frame, by partly heating the workpiece, which can include: a heat cutter having a heatable heating distal end section, the distal end section being movable among a processing position where the heating distal end section is kept pressed against the workpiece, a standby position located away from the workpiece and a retracted position located farther away from the workpiece than the standby position; a pressing member for pressing down the workpiece on the embroidery frame, the pressing member being movable between an operating position where the pressing member presses down the workpiece and a non-operating position where the pressing member does not press down the workpiece; an interlocking drive device for effecting movement of the pressing member between the operating position and the non-operating position and movement of the heating distal end section between the standby position and the retracted position in interlocked relation to each other; and a heating-distal-end-section driving device for, while the pressing member is in the operating position, driving the heating distal end section to move between the standby position and the processing position.

The distal end section of the heat cutter can be movable among the processing position where the heating distal end section can be kept pressed against the workpiece, the standby position located away from the workpiece and the retracted position located farther away from the workpiece than the standby position. The pressing member for pressing down the workpiece on the embroidery frame can be movable between the operating position where the pressing member presses down the workpiece and the non-operating position where the pressing member does not press down the workpiece. The movement of the pressing member between the operating position and the non-operating position and the movement of the heating distal end section between the standby position and the retracted position can be effected in interlocked relation to each other, and, while the pressing member is in the operating position, the heating distal end section is driven to move between the standby position and the processing position. Thus, the heating distal end section can be moved from the retracted position to the standby position as the pressing member moves from the non-operating position to the operating position, so that the heating distal end section can be moved to the processing position after the pressing member has pressed down the workpiece. Further, when the heating distal end section is moved away from the workpiece, the heating distal end section can be moved alone, or independently, from the processing position to the standby position with the workpiece kept pressed down by the pressing member. Furthermore, the heating distal end section can be moved from the processing section to the retracted position as the pressing member moves from the operating position to the non-operating position. Thus, the heating distal end section and the workpiece can be allowed to contact each other in an appropriate manner, and thereby can avoid the inconveniences encountered by the conventionally-known counterpart, such as the inconvenience that the workpiece is undesirably cut during heat marking due to an increased time of the contact between the heating distal end section and the workpiece. As a result, the heat cutting device can perform appropriate processing even at the start and end points of the processing.

Further, the heating distal end section can be moved alone, or independently, repetitively between the processing position and the standby position with the pressing member maintained in the operating position. Thus, when the processing by the heat cutting device is to be performed intermittently, appropriate processing can be performed even at the start and end points of each the intermittent processing portions because the workpiece can be held pressed down by the pressing member irrespective of the movement of the heating distal end section. Furthermore, even in a case where there is an uneven, concave-convex surface or lifted-up surface on a portion of the workpiece to be subjected to the intermittent processing, such an uneven, concave-convex surface or lifted-up surface can be eliminated by the pressed-down state of the workpiece being secured by the pressing member and desired processing can thereby be performed in an appropriate, stabilized manner without the to-be-processed portion of the workpiece being undesirably deviated in position.

Because the heating distal end section can be pressed against the workpiece after the workpiece has been pressed down by the pressing member and then the heating distal end section can be moved away from the workpiece with the workpiece held pressed down by the pressing member as noted above, appropriate processing can be performed by means of the heating distal end section at the start and end points of the processing with the workpiece held pressed down by the pressing member in a stabilized manner.

Further, even when processing is to be performed intermittently, appropriate processing can be performed because the heating distal end section can be moved alone, or independently, from the processing position to the standby position with the workpiece held pressed down by the pressing member.

The following will describe various embodiments, but it should be appreciated that the inventive concept is not limited to the described embodiments and various modifications or alternative embodiments are possible without departing from the basic principles. The scope of the present invention is therefore to be determined solely by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outer appearance of an embodiment of a multi-head embroidery sewing machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged right side view of one of machine heads M of the embroidery sewing machine;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged left side view of a heat cutting device of the embroidery sewing machine;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of relevant sections of the heat cutting device in an operating position in which a pressing member is abutting against a workpiece to press the workpiece;

FIG. 5 is a view of the heat cutting device as viewed in a direction of arrow A of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the relevant sections of the heat cutting device when a heating distal end section of the heat cutting device has moved to a processing position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outer appearance of one example of a multi-head embroidery sewing machine. The multi-head embroidery sewing machine includes a machine frame 1 having six machine heads M provided thereon, and a table 2. A rotary hook base (not shown) is disposed under each of the machine heads M in such a manner that a needle plate 3 fixed to the upper surface of the rotary hook base is located at generally the same height as the table 2. Further, in the multi-head embroidery sewing machine, an embroidery frame 4 for holding a workpiece, such as a fabric, in a stretched-taut state is mounted on the upper surface of the table 2, and this embroidery frame 4 is drivable, via an X drive mechanism 5 and Y drive mechanism 6, horizontally over the table 2 in a front-rear direction (i.e., in a direction perpendicularly to the sheet of FIG. 1) and in a left-right direction.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged right side view of one of the machine heads M. As shown in FIG. 2, the machine head M includes an arm 7 fixed to the machine frame 1 in such a manner as to project forward, and a needle bar case 8 located in front of the arm 7 and slidable in the left-right direction (in a direction perpendicular to the sheet of FIG. 2). A main machine shaft 9 rotationally drivable via a not-shown machine driving motor extends through the arm 7 in the left-right direction (in the direction perpendicular to the sheet of FIG. 2).

A plurality of sewing needles 10 are vertically movably provided in the needle bar case 8, and any desired one of the sewing needles 10 is placed at a selected position (more specifically, a position corresponding to the rotary hook base) by the needle bar case 8 being sequentially slid via not-shown color change mechanism. Then, as the main machine shaft 9 rotates, the sewing needle 10 placed at the selected position (i.e., selected sewing needle 10) vertically moves toward and away from the rotary hook base. A sewing operation is performed in the well-known manner through cooperation between the vertical movement of the selected sewing needle 10 and a rotary hook (not shown) rotationally driven within the rotary hook base, during which time the embroidery frame 4 is driven as needed by the X drive mechanism 5 and Y drive mechanism 6 in the front-rear and left-right directions so that an embroidery sewing operation is performed on the workpiece S on the basis of desired embroidery data.

As seen in FIG. 2, a heat cutting device H is provided beneath each of the machine head M, and the following describe in detail an example construction of the heat cutting device H. FIG. 3 is an enlarged left side view of the heat cutting device H, which particularly shows a state where a pressing member 33 is not pressing down the workpiece S (i.e., the pressing member 33 is in a non-operating position). FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of relevant sections of the heat cutting device H showing the pressing member 33 in an operating position where it abuts against the workpiece S to press down the workpiece S on the embroidery frame 4. FIG. 5 is a view of the heat cutting device H as viewed in a direction of arrow A of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a side view showing the relevant sections of the heat cutting device H when a heating distal end section 11 a of the heat cutting device H has moved to a processing position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the heat cutting device H includes a support mechanism 12 for supporting a heat cutter (heating means) 11, and an elevator mechanism 13 for moving the support mechanism 12 toward and from the workpiece S. By the elevator mechanism 13, the support mechanism 12 is reciprocatively moved between a raised position shown in FIG. 3 or 2 and a lowered position shown in FIG. 4. Such ascending/descending movement, by the elevator mechanism 12, of the support mechanism 12 simultaneously permits movement of the pressing member 33 to either the operating position where the pressing member 33 presses down the workpiece S or the non-operating position where the pressing member 33 does not press down the workpiece S and movement of the heating distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 to either a standby position located away from the workpiece S or a refracted position located farther away from the workpiece S than the standby position, as will be later described in detail.

The elevator mechanism 13 includes a bracket 14 fixed to a lower rear surface of the arm 7, and a guide base 15 fixed to the bracket 14. As apparent from FIG. 5, a guide rail 16 is fixed to the guide base 15. A slider member 17 is provided on the guide rail 16 in such a manner that it can slide along the guide rail 16 in a vertical (i.e., up-down) direction of FIG. 5. Further, a base member 18 is fixed to the slider member 17.

The guide base 15 has two arms 15 a and 15 b on its upper region, and an air cylinder (interlocking drive device) 20 fixed to one of the arms 15 a via a bracket 19 while a support member 21 supporting a rear portion of the air cylinder 20 is fixed to the other arm 15 b. A distal end portion of a rod of the air cylinder 20 is fixed to a plate 22 that is fixed to the base member 18. Thus, as the rod expands or contracts through activation of the air cylinder 20, the base member 18 descends or ascends via the plate 22, at which time the base member 18 descends or ascends along the guide rail 16 via the slider member 17. Stoppers 23 are provided on longitudinally opposite end portions of the guide rail 16 for limiting or restricting a sliding range of the slider member 17. Further, the slider member 17 has an engaging pin 24 fixed thereto, and the guide base 15 has an engaging member 25 pivotably provided thereon for stopping descending movement of the slider member 17. Namely, the descending movement of the slider member 17 can be stopped by the engaging member 25 being pivoted into engagement with the engaging pin 24 of the slider member 17 moving downward from the position shown in FIG. 3.

The base member 18 that slides along the guide rail 16 via the slider member 17 has opposite side walls 18 a and 18 b projecting toward a reader of FIG. 5, of which the right side wall 18 a is fixed to the slider member 17. The right side wall 18 a is formed longer than the slider member 17 in such a manner that a distal end portion (lower end portion in FIG. 5) of the side wall 18 a greatly projects beyond the slider member 17. The guide base 15 has a distal end portion (lower end portion in FIG. 5) 15 c formed in a perpendicularly bent shape (generally L shape), and a positioning member 26 having a recess 26 a is fixed to the distal end portion 15 c. As the support mechanism 12 descends to the lowered position (corresponding to the operating position of the pressing member 33 where the pressing member 33 presses down the workpiece S as shown in FIG. 4), the distal end portion of the right side wall 18 a of the base member 18 fits into the recess 26 a of the positioning member 26. In this way, in the lowered position (corresponding to the operating position of the pressing member 33), the support mechanism 12 can be appropriately positioned in the left-right direction, and undesired vibration of the support mechanism 12 can be minimized.

The heat cutter 11, which may be of the conventionally-known type, is supported on the base member 18 and can be heated at the distal end section (heating distal end section) 11 a. After descending movement of the base member 18, the heated distal end section 11 a is pressed against the workpiece S, so that thermal or heat processing is performed on the workpiece S. The left side wall 18 b of the base member 18 and a support bracket 27 fixed to a portion of the base member 18 opposed to the left side wall 18 b are pivotally connected to pins 28 projecting horizontally from the left and right side surfaces of the heat cutter 11, so that the heat cutter 11 is pivotably supported on the base member 18. Namely, the left side wall 18 b and the support bracket 27 are opposed to each other with an interval at least greater than the width (or diameter) of the heat cutter 11.

On the left side wall 18 b of the base member 18 is provided a torsion spring 29 for normally biasing the heat cutter 11 in a counterclockwise direction of FIGS. 3 and 4 about the pin 28, i.e. in a direction where the distal end section 11 a is pivotally urged upwardly. An air cylinder (heating-distal-end-section driving means or device) 30 is fixed to the support bracket 27 above the heat cutter 11, and an actuating plate 31 normally abutting against the distal end of a rod of the air cylinder 30 by the biasing force of the torsion spring 29 is fixed to the heat cutter 11.

The distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 is normally located in any one of positions where the distal end section 11 a is not inserted in a hole 33 b of the pressing member 33 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, i.e. in any one of the standby position (FIG. 4) where the distal end section 11 a is located away from the workpiece S and the retracted position (FIG. 3) located farther away from the workpiece S than the standby position. After the heat cutter 11 is caused to descend through activation of the air cylinder 20 (i.e., while the pressing member 33 is in the operating position as shown in FIG. 4), the air cylinder 30 is activated to advance its rod, in response to which the actuating plate 31 is pressed by the rod so that the heat cutter 11 is driven to pivot in the clockwise direction of FIG. 4 against the biasing force of the torsion spring 29, and, thus, the distal end section 11 a pivots downward toward the workpiece S as shown in FIG. 6.

Downward pivoting movement of the heat cutter 11 is restricted or limited by a stopper (limiting member) 32 provided on the base member 18 of the heat cutter 11, so that the heat cutter 11, pivotally driven by the air cylinder 30, can be stopped by abutting engagement with the stopper (limiting member) 32. At that time, the distal end section 11 a is in the processing position where it is kept pressed against the workpiece S, as shown in FIG. 6. The limiting member 32 for limiting the downward pivoting movement of the heat cutter 11 is, for example, in the form of a screw bar screwed to the base member 18, and the heat cutter 11 stops its downward pivoting movement by abutting against the upper end of the limiting member 32. The upper end of the limiting member 32 is adjustable in position by adjusting an amount of screwing of the screw bar, and the stopper 32 is locked by tightening of a nut. By thus adjusting the upper end position of the limiting member (screw bar) 32, an amount of projection, beyond the lower surface of the pressing member 33, of the distal end section 11 a in the processing position, where the distal end section 11 a is kept pressed against the workpiece S, can be adjusted in accordance with the thickness of the workpiece and the type of the processing to be performed. Alternatively, the limiting member 32 may be adjusted by an actuator.

Further, the base member 18 has an arm 18 c extending toward the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 (downward in FIG. 5), and the pressing member 33 for pressing down the workpiece S held on the embroidery frame 4 is mounted on the arm 18 c. The pressing member 33 has a pressing portion 33 a provided at its lower end, and this pressing portion 33 a is constructed to press down the embroidery frame 4 as the support mechanism 12 descends to the lowered position. The pressing member 33 is fixed to the arm 18 c in such a manner that it is positionally adjustable in the front-rear direction. The pressing portion 33 a of the pressing member 33 has the hole 33 b formed therein for passage therethrough of a tip end portion of the distal end section 11 a. As the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 pivots downward to the processing position, a tip end portion of the distal end section 11 a is inserted through the hole 33 b of the pressing member 33 to be pressed against the workpiece S.

Now, a description will be given about heat processing to be performed on the workpiece S by the heat cutting device H. When the heat processing is to be performed on the workpiece S by the heat cutting device H, first, the air cylinder 20 is activated to cause the support mechanism 12 to descend from the position of FIG. 3 to the position of FIG. 4. Thus, the pressing member 33 is moved from the non-operating position where it does not press the workpiece S to the operating position where it presses the workpiece S, so that the workpiece S is pressed down by the pressing member 33 with the pressing portion 33 a abutting against the workpiece S. In interlocked relation to such movement of the pressing member 33, the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 moves from the retracted position shown in FIG. 3 to the standby position shown in FIG. 4.

Then, the air cylinder 30 is activated to pivot the heat cutter 11, so that the distal end section 11 a moves from the standby position of FIG. 4, located away from the workpiece S, to the processing position of FIG. 6 where the distal end section 11 a is pressed against the workpiece S. With the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 thus pressed against the workpiece S, the embroidery frame 4, having the workpiece S held thereon, is driven in X- and Y-axis directions by the X drive mechanism 5 and Y drive mechanism 6 so that the processing is performed on the workpiece S.

After completion of the heat processing, such as heat cutting, marking or the like, on the workpiece S, the air cylinder 30 is activated again, in response to which the heat cutter 11 is pivotally driven in the counterclockwise direction by the biasing force of the torsion spring 29 in such a manner that the distal end section 11 a pivots upwardly away from the workpiece S, i.e. from the processing position shown in FIG. 6 to the standby position shown in FIG. 4. After the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 has been pivoted upwardly from the processing position to the standby position to be located away from the workpiece S in the aforementioned manner, the air cylinder 20 is activated again. Thus, the support mechanism 12 moves from the position of FIG. 4 (where the pressing member 33 is in the operating position) to the position of FIG. 3 (where the pressing member 33 is in the non-operating position), in response to which the distal end section 11 a moves from the standby position to the retracted position.

Further, in a case where the heat processing is to be performed on the workpiece S intermittently, the air cylinder 30 is activated with the support mechanism 12 maintained in the position shown in FIG. 4, i.e. with the pressing member 33 maintained in the operating position, so that the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 is moved to the processing position when the processing is to be performed, but to the standby position when the processing is to be not performed. Thus, in the case where the heat processing is to be performed on the workpiece S intermittently, steps of pressing the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 against the workpiece S and then moving away from the workpiece S are repeated with the workpiece S constantly kept pressed down by the pressing portion 33 a of the pressing member 33, so that the intermittent processing can be performed with the workpiece S kept pressed down in a stabilized manner.

Among examples of the heat processing to be performed by the heat cutter 11 are heat cutting, marking, etc., and a change in the type of the heat processing to be performed may be effected by changing a heating temperature of the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11, the amount of projection, beyond the lower surface of the pressing member 33, of the distal end section 11 a and the moving speed of the embroidery frame 4. Further, in a case where embroidery too is to be performed on the workpiece S, such embroidery may be performed by activation of the machine head M before or after the processing by the heat cutting device H.

As described above, the movement of the pressing member 33 between the operating position and the non-operating position and the movement of the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 between the standby position and the refracted position are effected in interlocked relation to each other. In addition, while the pressing member 33 is in the operating position, the distal end section 11 a is driven to move alone, or independently, between the standby position and the processing position, so that the distal end section 11 a of the heat cutter 11 moves relative to the pressing member 33. In this way, the distal end section 11 a can be pressed against the workpiece S after the workpiece S has been pressed down by the pressing member 33, but also the distal end section 11 a can be moved away from the workpiece S with the workpiece S kept pressed down by the pressing member 33. Thus, the present invention allows the distal end section 11 a and the workpiece S to contact each other in an appropriate manner, and allows the heat cutter H to perform appropriate processing even at the start and end points of the processing without involving the inconveniences encountered by the conventionally-known counterpart, such as the inconvenience that the workpiece is undesirably cut during the heat marking due to an increased time of contact between the distal end section of the heat cutting device H and the workpiece.

Further, in the case where the processing by the heat cutting device H is to be performed intermittently, the distal end section 11 a is moved alone, or independently, repetitively between the processing position and the standby position with the pressing member 33 maintained in the operating position. Because the workpiece S can be held pressed down by the pressing member 33 irrespective of the movement of the distal end section 11 a, appropriate processing can be performed even at the start and end points of each of the intermittent processing portions. Further, even in a case where there is an uneven, concave-convex surface or lifted-up surface on a portion of the workpiece S to be subjected to intermittent processing, the disclosed arrangement can eliminate such an uneven, concave-convex surface or lifted-up surface by the workpiece S being held pressed down by the pressing member 33 and thereby perform desired processing in an appropriate, stabilized manner without a to-be-processed portion of the workpiece being undesirably deviated in position.

Although a preferred embodiment has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the inventive concept is not so limited and may be modified variously. For example, whereas the heat cutter 11 has been described as pivotably supported and having the distal end section 11 a pivotally movable between the standby position and the processing position, the distal end section 11 a may be constructed to be linearly reciprocally movable between the standby position and the processing position.

Furthermore, the pressing member 33 may be constructed to be adjustable in height in accordance with the thickness of the workpiece S, etc. 

1. A heat cutting device for an embroidery sewing machine which performs desired processing on a workpiece, held on an embroidery frame, by partly heating the workpiece, said heat cutting device comprising: a heat cutter having a heatable heating distal end section, said distal end section being movable among a processing position where said heating distal end section is kept pressed against the workpiece, a standby position located away from the workpiece and a retracted position located farther away from the workpiece than the standby position; a pressing member for pressing down the workpiece on the embroidery frame, said pressing member being movable between an operating position where said pressing member presses down the workpiece and a non-operating position where said pressing member does not press down the workpiece; an interlocking drive device for effecting movement of said pressing member between the operating position and the non-operating position and movement of said heating distal end section between the standby position and the retracted position in interlocked relation to each other; and a heating-distal-end-section driving device for, while said pressing member is in the operating position, driving said heating distal end section to move between the standby position and the processing position.
 2. The heat cutting device as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises a support mechanism for not only movably supporting said heat cutter in such a manner that said heating distal end section can move between the standby position and the processing position but also fixedly supporting said pressing member, and wherein said interlocking drive device effects the movement of said pressing member between the operating position and the non-operating position and the movement of said heating distal end section between the standby position and the retracted position in interlocked relation to each other by moving said support mechanism toward and away from the workpiece.
 3. The heat cutting device as claimed in claim 2, which further comprises a limiting member for limiting movement of said heat cutter, and an amount of projection, beyond a lower surface of said pressing member, of said heating distal end section is variably adjustable by said limiting member. 